Week 4

Prayer candle's, Amsterdam, originally uploaded by cutjas.

Hey all,

It was another full and exciting week. Honestly, I don’t know how many more of these I can take, just kidding. I love all these new experiences and wouldn’t have it any other way. Here is what went on this last week.

We had our “First Serve” sign up this past weekend. “First serve” was an opportunity for folks in our congregation, who are not serving, to have a chance to try out a ministry by serving once with no commitment. The sign up went well we had a good response of people who were interested in serving inside and outside of Crossroads church, which is very encouraging. Now the real work starts. We are organizing and getting people plugged in to their different service opportunities. That will take some work.

It has been good for me to help this initiative and see a positive response from it. I am excited to see people get plugged in serving and see how it changes them and changes our community. We heard a wonderful sermon from our very own Andrew Perriman about leaving our mark in the world. Andrew challenged us to be vulnerable as believers in the world and to make a statement about who we are as followers of Christ. This was a good word for myself and for our community here. If you are interested in listening to it, you can access the talk through itunes. Search for “Crossroads Church The Hague” or go to http://www.crossroadschurch.nl/ and you will find a link to the sermons. Be aware that there is a slightly “Dodgy” joke so you might want to be weary of letting small children and most barn yard animals listen to the sermon, other than that enjoy.

This past week we also had our “Thinklings” meeting. Thinklings is a gathering of Missionaries who wish to think through issues of the Christian faith on a more concentrated. The topic we had this past meeting was “What does it mean to proclaim ‘Jesus is Lord’ in a modern day pluralistic society?” I had a great time at this meeting; it was a fun exchange of ideas and experiences surrounding this topic. I presented on the church’s role in relation to “worldly power” and how the church as institution has to reject any type of power over positions that are offered to it by the world and that through this position of service as an institution the church will be proclaiming “Jesus is Lord”. I was challenged by several people on this topic and actually was able to change and refine my position a bit on this topic, which is what I was hoping to get out of this weekend.

We heard from people from all around Europe and even a professor from Trinity University in Deerfield Illinois. The weekend was filled with good conversations, challenging presentations and a lot of good time thinking. I walked away challenged, encouraged and very tired. I found this valuable because it is not that often that you can set apart several days to think about a pressing question. This was intense, but also was valuable for my work here in Europe.

Sunday went well I am starting to feel a little bit at home here. I can go to the Sunday service and I know people, I can see friends and people know me. I was happy to be able to walk around the service and the halls and see people that I could talk with and am getting to know. I am starting to “belong.”

With that belonging comes a level of responsibility. For instance, now that people know me, they can ask me for help, which I am more than happy to give. This Sunday I was able to help with the “Tear Down Team.” After the service we stacked chairs and packed up all the equipment that is used during a Sunday service. I honestly really enjoy this kind of work. I couldn’t do it every weekend, but I do like getting my hands dirty and doing some good ole manual labor.

While working I was able to meet Wim, a Dutchman who works with developmentally disabled children in The Netherlands for his full time job and helps tear down after the service on Sunday. He was a very gentle humble man this became clear right when I met him. We had a good time joking and working. I was impressed with his service mentality and his humble demeanor. This was a man who had spent his life-serving people, some of whom need a tremendous amount of physical help. I admired him and also was challenged by his life. While I don’t know if I could do what he does, I do know that I was challenged to do my part, the part I have been trained for and the part I am gifted in. This again brought to light my calling and challenged me to live out the life I had been called too, just as Wim was living out his calling.

Monday I spent the day with my good German friend Klaus. Klaus is a violinmaker originally from Hamburg, but now living in Berlin. Klaus had stopped by The Hague on his way to Paris to visit some of us CAI folks. Klaus is also a very humble man who loves people. Klaus is the type of person who has a friend in every town all around the world, and if for some outside chance he comes to a town where he doesn’t have a friend, just give him 5 minutes and he will have 10. Klaus has a way about him that draws people to him. He is not a big presence, but has a very gentle and inviting way about him, which is disarming and allows him to meet people everywhere he goes.

Monday was a great day. We went up to Amsterdam and met with a Swedish friend of Klaus’s, Michael. We spent a couple of hours talking, they were catching up and exploring what each of them had been up too for the last 2 years. I jumped in when I could, but mainly listened to their conversation. I had a good time making a new friend and hearing about what the two of them had been up too. We met in the YWAM café in Amsterdam, which if you haven’t been too you should check out because it was a magnificent café.

From there we went to the Graf’s house, also in Amsterdam. We showed up there and the beautiful chaos began. The Graf’s live in this tornado of a world that seems to work quiet well. They are some of the most hospitable and welcoming people I have met and today was no exception. We were there for 5 minutes when the invitation for dinner came; we ended up staying till 10pm (22:00). It was a fun night with great food, discussion, sharing, and prayer. Laina Graf is a professional caterer so a meal at her house is always a treat. I swear she could make dirt taste good. Fortunately, we had pork, rice, bread, and a few other things that were very tasty.

Both Phil and Laina have a way of probing into who you are as a person this causes me to reflect. As a couple they seem to be able to see things in you that are not evident when you look at yourself.

As Klaus and I drove back from the Graf’s to The Hague, I was reflecting on the day. I felt a distinct nudge toward Sweden. I keep meeting Swede’s, two now in one week. I don’t know if this is a sign from God or mere coincidence. I was sitting there on a highway from Amsterdam to The Hague, which was in itself not something I saw myself doing a year ago. What could be next in my life? This question I have been wrestling with over the past couple of months.

At this point I want to share some sad news. Two of my good friends have lost someone dear to both of them. Monica Holm’s father Bruce Elmer died this past week from cancer. Although, I never met Bruce, I know that Josh, Monica’s husband, couldn’t stop talking about Bruce since the day they met. Josh always raved about how Bruce’s abilities on the golf course and his generousness nature as a person.

I saw from a distance as Monica struggled with watching her father slip away over the past few months, virtually helpless. It was very evident that Bruce was a great man who loved his family and made a positive impact on those he met. I would ask that you keep the Elmer’s in your prayers this week, as loss is never easy. As the scripture says, “we laugh with those who laugh, and we cry with those who cry” and here we support those who mourn. Monica and Josh I want you to know that even though comfort seems distant you are not alone during this difficult time.

Danku wiel, Thanks,
Jason

p.s. I changed my settings so anyone can comment on this blog so feel free to share you thoughts, questions and/or challenges.

Prayer requests:
1) I am starting a ministry geared toward 25-35ish year olds. I need leaders and people who are interested in this age group. I am starting the process of gathering those interested. I wish that God’s spirit is driving this ministry and that we would be able to make a difference in people’s lives.
2) What’s next? Continue to pray about what is next for myself after graduation. There are lots of opportunities and I need some good discernment.
3) Monica and Josh Holm, as well as, the whole Elmer family for the loss of there father Bruce.

The Boil, The Computer, and The Assessor

Stain-glass window, Amsterdam, originally uploaded by cutjas.

This past week was filled with busyness. I came right out of weekend conference in Stockholm and had my day of misery (see last post). On Tuesday I was in the office all day and most of the night finishing up the artwork for the First serve ministry Fair we had this past Sunday. The First Serve Ministry Fair was a chance for people in our church to sign up for service opportunities within our church and within our community. It was a great success, but took a lot of work. I was in charge of making all the signage, graphics, and organizing all the ministry booths on Sunday morning. Thanks to some long hours and a lot of help from other folks we were able to pull off this event. I was happy with the way it went, which is always a good feeling.

During the week I was so tired. I have learned something about myself over the years. I learned that stress makes me very tired. I have friends and family that get stressed and can’t sleep, they are so restless; I am the opposite, I can’t stay awake, literally. As stress goes up my need for sleep gets out of control and this causes as much of a problem as not getting enough sleep. During this week I was pretty much sleeping and working, that was my routine. I also noticed that my body was taking a considerable amount of energy to heal from this boil I had contracted. All of this culminated with me sleeping for 10 hours Sunday night and then resting/vegging out all day Monday, but it was well needed.

This past Friday I made the short trip to Amsterdam for my formal Team Leader assessment with Laina Graf. This was fun to make the trip, I enjoy riding the train and I had a nice tram ride through the heart of Amsterdam, it was amazing to see the diversity in that city. I had a Three-hour interview with Laina and then was invited to stay for dinner. I did and am glad for that decision. Laina is a professional caterer and the dinner was incredible. I was also able to meet some of their friends and get to know their family better.

After dinner Phil Graf invited me to stay for his monthly poker game, again, I am glad I did. I was able to win 30 euro’s!!! This was fun, the game was myself, Phil Graf, one of phil’s neighbors and his coworker Vivian, then Stuart and Tione (Twan) who Stuart buys vans from. It was a good group of folks and we had a good night of fun. Seeing as this was my third time playing poker I was pretty happy to finish 2nd in that group. Honestly, my only goal was to win enough to be able to by my train ticket back to The Hague.
I ended up staying the night at the Graf’s and then headed back to The Hague the following morning. Once back in The Hague, I went to set up for the Ministry Fair and then went home to a shower and a good nights sleep.

I have noticed something that was new to me this past week. It’s been three weeks now that I have been gone and I am experiencing a little relationship withdrawal. I got a couple messages from friends lamenting that I am not around to hang out. Another one of my friends lost his dog (Norm, a 14 year old greyhound) and I was hard for me not to be around for these friends who I do miss.

I know that I am where God wants me to be and that this is part of the transition process, but it is hard and is something I will have to learn how to deal with. This experience has made email, chat, and online phones very important. The fact that I can communicate with family on a daily basis makes “not being there” a lot easier to deal with, still nothing can replace face-to-face.

With that said, I am getting to know people here better, I found a soccer team to play with. I was invited over to a Dirk’s house to watch Football (soccer) this evening. Last night I went with Kevin and Kathy Johnson out to a pub for jazz night. It was spectacular; the 5 piece Jazz band was really good and played an impressive show. It is funny how I am working on maintaining old relationships and starting new one at the same time, such is life though.

I did the announcements in front of church again this week it has been helpful to get some up front exposure to the church and for myself to get more comfortable on stage. I am currently working on a paper on the “Attributes of service” for a meeting we have this week called the “Thinklings.”

I have been monitoring my finances closely, as well as, keeping an eye on the current economic status of the markets. Who knew that being a missionary would also make me an amateur finance analyst as well? I seem to be doing well with money so far, thanks to folks at home and people here being so generous I have been able to keep my costs down, but I will still need to raise some more money to be able to stay until May 1st. Right now I don’t have a hard number, but I hope to be getting a better idea of that figure in the next couple of weeks.

I do have some prayer requests:
1) I am starting to move forward on organizing the 25-35 year olds in our church for social event, service projects and small group communities. Pray that God rises up leaders who have a desire to work with this age group. Pray that service projects arise and that we start to feel a sense of community around this age.
2) Pray for confidence. I have a lot to say, but have a big case of stage fright. I need/want to over come this, it will take time and effort, but I know eventually I will be able to speak that message I have.
3) Relationships – as some of my good relationships change and as I build new ones that I will be wise and diligent in my relationships.
4) Be praying for the IJM initiative that is beginning here in The Hague. There is a lot of passion around this topic of Justice and the anti-slavery movement, pray that we would turn that passion into action wisely.

I thank you all again for you emails, prayers, comments and questions. Its nice to have the interaction with everyone.

Take care,
Jason Cutshall

P.S. I did finish reading a book called “Murder in Amsterdam” this was a book given to my by my friend Steph (shout out!!). It was a really good book detailing out the contemporary cultural/political situation here in The Netherlands regarding the influx of new immigrants. The book was a good account of some murders’ of radical figures in the Dutch cultural/Political scene. I think that this was able to unearth some of the angst that is under the surface here in the Netherlands. I do recommend it for anyone who is interested in the challenges of multiculturalism/melting pots. This book raises a lot of good questions and takes a very objective reporter type approach, although I am not well versed in the Dutch pop Politics.

Heja Raz and Linds

Raz and Linds, originally uploaded by cutjas.

Heja (hello, in Swedish),

I had a jammed packed week. During the week Carolina (the youth pastor at Crossroads) and myself finished a rather nice flyer that we had been working on for a week or so. It was detailing out all the happenings at Crossroads over the next month and let me tell you there are happenings a plenty. The bulk of my week was spent working on the flyer. This had to be finished by Thursday, because I was off to Sweden on Friday.

I flew to Stockholm Friday morning for a conference put on by the Swedish organization EFK (http://www.efk.se/). The conference was focusing on the state of the church in Sweden. The conference was very informative and helpful in understanding the religious situation in Sweden. We saw several presentations by leaders of EFK about the history of, the present situation and future hope of the Church in Sweden, from a Swedish perspective.

EFK stands for Evangelical Free Churches. EFK seeks to unify the mission efforts in Sweden by unifing churchplanters and mission organization together to be more strategic. The state of the church in Sweden is very dire right now. One statistic that sums up the situation is this; in Stockholm (Sweden’s largest city at roughly 2 million people) there is 1 church for every 14,000 persons. That number is expected to grow in the coming years. What that means is that even if people were asking questions there really is no church presence there at all to join in the conversation.

There is a great challenge in Sweden, but there is also great things happening. We heard testimony of new people coming to faith in the existing churches. God is moving in Sweden. Even though Sweden is in one of its darkest hours, as far as, the church is concerned. I did go away inspired to see what God will do in Sweden.

If you wish to pray for Sweden the biggest needs are leaders and encouragement. After years and years of discouragement, the Swedish church leadership is very discouraged and needs help. This conference was the church reaching out to the world saying we need help here, as a church we are dying. It is a very humbling thing to have to ask for help for something, traditionally, you have done very well and that is where Sweden is. Traditionally they have been at the forefront of missions all around the world and now they themselves have become a mission field and are asking for help.

After the conference I was able to spend sometime with my good friend Rasmus and his lovely (and pregnant) wife Lindsay. It was very good to see familiar and friendly faces, Rasmus and I picked up where we left off, by having hamburgers and watching soccer. It was a good time to rest and reconnect with old friends, halfway around the globe. We spent Sunday walking around Stockholm and eating sushi. The trip was too quick, but we still cherished the time. If you think of it Rasmus and Lindsay are expecting a daughter in the next week or so, please keep them in your prayers.

The other major issue that was going on for myself was severe discomfort in my lower back. Since, last Friday I had been experiencing severe pain in my lower back. There was swelling and shooting pains. This baffled me the whole weekend, but the pain kept growing worse and worse. Until this afternoon, I had laid down for a nap and when I woke up I realized that this swollen thing had begun to discharge out of my back. At this point Andrew rushed me to the doctor and they diagnosed it as a boil, yes a boil! (http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/tc/boils-topic-overview)

At this point a little needs to be said about the Dutch medical system here. It is notorious for being quite brutal and that was the case. They don’t like to treat people unless its absolutely necessary and they don’t like to give anesthetic or antibiotics.

I knew things were going bad when the doctor said this, “ok, now we are going to spray a cooling agent, pause, ok, now I am going to make the incision.” At this point I almost stopped him, incision!!! Before I could I was experiencing some serious pain and could barley breathe let alone yell at the doctor. The Doctor cut into the boil and then began scrapping out the infected area. This created a sense of…well…pain.

As I laid their on the table clutching the wall with all my strength and shaking uncontrollably from the pain. The doctor said, “It’s a medieval disease, which requires a medieval treatment.” As you can imagine this comment did not raise my confidence in the doctor’s abilities. The doctor was kind enough at one point to pause, so that I could catch my breath, but then he went at it again and I laid their in the fetal position squirming and doing everything I could to not scream in agony.

In all fairness, the treatment was far cheaper than I am used too, but honestly I think I would have paid triple for it not to be so painful. I am feeling better, but I have to…well someone here has too, dress my wound each day. I can now say I have been through the hell that is the Dutch medical system and well it was an experience…a very very painful experience.

I was able to have a good laugh about it on the way home…after I stopped shaking that is. I wonder what the next week will bring, maybe an infestation of locusts or frogs will over run the city. One can only hope.

From one extreme to the other

Statue to the Unionization of Prostitutes in Netherlands, originally uploaded by cutjas.

As I woke this morning life began to feel more routine. It has been only a week and a half, but I seem to have arrived at a routine, which for me is a good thing. This past week I was able to sort out my main responsibilities and help out around the office as best I could. I am still getting settled, there is, however, no question that and if you asked me how to say “Schewingen” or tell you where this town is? I would have no idea. None-the-less, life is beginning to take shape here in Den Haag.

My main responsibility will be to help with the small groups ministry at Crossroads Church. I will be focusing on 25-35 year olds, helping them to get plugged into small groups, service projects, and helping to organize social events. I personally am very excited about this task and look forward to working in this area. Kevin, the lead pastor, has told me that this makes up about 40% of the church’s attendees and this group is motivated to get out and start serving the community.

I have lots of ideas of where to go with this ministry and what to do, but before anything can happen, I have to start meeting people. That is the focus of the next month for myself. I want to start meeting with people who are in and interested in that demographic. I do believe this is a perfect fit for my talents and passion.

Outside of work, I am going to be volunteering with the International Justice Mission Project (IJM) here in Den Haag. Crossroads and another church are working with IJM to help set up a Den Haag office. This is in its very early stages and is exciting to be apart of. IJM seeks to liberate slaves around the world through sustainable rescue and prosecution of criminals, specifically as a movement supported by churches. IJM seeks to be the justice arm of the church in the fight against slavery. If this interests you at all you can check out there website here: www.ijm.org or I have a link on the left hand side of my blog.

Personally, I was able to go be a tourist for a little bit on Saturday in Amsterdam, it was a lot of fun, but also a reminder of the tensions that exist within this culture. Not that every culture doesn’t have tensions or challenges, but I am here, so this is what I see. We took a short tour of Amsterdam, only about 3 hours or so. We saw a couple museums, got a brief history of Christendom from our own Andrew Perriman PhD (just so you know, he would prefer that I leave off the last three letters of his name, but I put them in for effect), and were exposed to all sorts of public extreme’s that characterize Amsterdam as a city.

The part of the tour that struck me the most was when we came to the oldest church in Amsterdam. Here you had a scene where the church was literally surrounded by prostitutes in windows. Outside the church was a statue commemorating the Unionization of Prostitution in Netherlands (pictured above). There was so many thoughts and emotions that this scene brought up for myself. I don’t know quiet how to express them here and now. What I saw was the physical church, enormous, powerful in architecture, daunting in size; it had a sense of untouchable ness by any human. This may have been the goal of the architect, if so this person did a fantastic job with creating a building that captured God’s overwhelming ness.

As you turn around you see windows, well doors, doors with windows in them. Dozens of them lined up right next to each other as storefronts; the street was curved so it filled your entire scope of vision. In the windows were prostitutes. In contrast to the church these prostitutes were extremely accessible. Regardless of any moral, ethical, or cultural judgment, what you have here is on one side a representation of a God who is seemingly untouchable and overwhelming, faced to face with prostitutes inviting and enticing.

This is our mission field. This is what we are called to serve and I am very challenged by this. I don’t believe this is a challenge for Amsterdam or even the Netherlands alone. Every city in the west has prostitutes, whether sexual or other, and more than not, every city has a representation of God somewhere in its town. For myself this was the rawest depiction of the gulf that the church has between itself and the world, which it is called to love and serve.

I have had little time to reflect on that event, but I will and I will keep in mind the gulf of reality that exists in our world between the church and people. I am excited to start my work here, to grow new friendships, charge deeper in my relationship with God and to serve the world around me.

I have had a week that has taken me from getting adjusted physically to getting unadjusted spiritually. As always I welcome your prayers, questions, and comments. Thank you all, again, for your support in all its forms and yes mom I have been eating my vegetables…vegetables made of chocolate that is!!! Haha.